[Humphs]

Don't laugh, I have just one courgette plant due to short term space limitations this year.
In the rains earlier, the plant didn't properly take and actually I thought it was dead - it virtually shrivelled to nothing.
Then it suddenly started to pick up to the point that on Sunday this week we had a very healthy looking plant and 3 courgettes with more flowers showing. On Wednesday afternoon it wilted. On Thursday it got worse. Now on Friday all the outer leaves are wilted on the ground - though the inner leaves and flowers appear to be still struggling on?

Other sites are suggesting some kind of bore bug may be in the stem ?

Thoughts welcomed

[JayG]

Courgettes are certainly very vulnerable to having their stems chewed through by slugs when young, and as you found out with the cold conditions this summer they were very slow to get established so were at risk for a long time.

They should be a lot more robust once fully grown - they can get virus infections and usually finish up dying a slow death from mildew in autumn before the frosts finally finish them off, but your problem seems to be much more sudden than either of those.

If you rule out possibilities like an accidental dose of weedkiller or extreme drought, my best guess is that something has chewed into the stem, probably at or just below the soil surface - have a look, keep it fed and watered and it may recover, although it doesn't sound very promising.
If it dies, dig it up and have a look to see if something has damaged the roots, although that would be another very unusual problem in my experience.

[Humphs]

Thanks for your advice.
Checked the stem very gently and the whole plant broke off at the bottom of the stem and had indeed been eaten through.

A few ants running about but more likely slugs I think.

[JayG]

Shame - hopefully you can plant more than one next year (safety in numbers!) and with any luck it won't be such a vintage year for slugs and snails either.